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Board fast‑tracks temporary enrollment preferences for new Willie L. Brown Jr. Middle School amid heated debate
Summary
To boost local enrollment and diversity at the new Willie L. Brown Jr. Middle School, the board voted to adopt temporary student‑assignment priorities (siblings, selected Bayview elementary schools, 94124 residents, CTIP‑1 set‑aside), added a sunset review and removed one contested tie‑breaker after amendment. The decision drew protests about process and outreach.
The San Francisco Board of Education voted late on Sept. 23 to revise student‑assignment policy P5101 to add targeted enrollment preferences for the newly opening Willie L. Brown Jr. Middle School.
Under the approved revisions, the district will give priority to applicants to Willie Brown in this order: 1) younger siblings of students who will attend the school that year, 2) students attending fifth grade at four named Bayview elementary schools (Carver, Drew, Bret Hart, Malcolm X Academy) — the so‑called Bayview preference — 3) students who reside in ZIP code 94124, 4) students who live in CTIP‑1 census tracts, 5) an additional set of feeder schools (initially proposed but later amended out of the final motion), and 6) all other applicants. The board also adopted a related temporary high‑school tie‑breaker that would give Willie Brown graduates a preference in transitional years; the board placed a sunset/review provision on the high‑school preference years so the policy would be re‑examined after the initial cohorts graduate.
The item was considered on an expedited timetable to meet enrollment‑guide and enrollment‑fair printing deadlines. Parents and organizations voiced both strong support (to bring a neighborhood middle school back to the Bayview and encourage local participation) and concern (that process was rushed, that other feeder plans would be undermined, and that outreach to existing feeder communities was insufficient). Parents for Public Schools and others urged more prior consultation; board members debated whether removing four ancillary elementary tie‑breakers (an amendment introduced during debate) would better preserve existing feeder commitments.
After debate, the board adopted an amendment (deleting the four additional elementary tie‑breakers from the primary list) and then approved the policy as amended. President Feuer and other commissioners framed the change as a targeted‑universalism effort to encourage 94124 residents to re‑consider attending a neighborhood middle school and to seed a diverse enrollment cohort for the new school.
Representative quote: "This new tie‑breaker would become effective in the 2019 school year, when Brown's first cohort of students graduate from middle school and apply to high school," the superintendent's designee explained, while Commissioners emphasized a three‑cohort sunset review to reassess impacts.
What happens next: The district will publish the revised assignment guide for the enrollment fair, conduct targeted outreach in 94124 and CTIP‑1 areas, and staff will report back on outcomes and any unintended consequences during the sunset review period.
